Aquaponics is everywhere. Rian (Ree) Saunders (Flickr)
May 3, 2018 Aquaponics 5,029 Comments

Each aquaponics system is unique. Here is fascinating example of a system in a colder climate.

Television presenter Kate Humble has set up the UK’s first aquaponic solar greenhouse. Humble presents the UK program ‘Springwatch’ which explores rural wildlife.

Her frustration at the abundance of unused farmland across Britain and excessive food wastage (she has previously said that the reason there is so much wastage is that food is too cheap) has led her to set up a sustainable aquaponics system on her farm in Monmouthshire, Wales.

Her company ‘Humble by Nature’ has teamed up with Aquaponics UK to build the remarkable operation.

While the UK has strong growth of wheat and barley, it imports a great deal of its fruit and vegetables from overseas. A recent University of Cambridge study has shown that we currently have a food and drink trade deficit of 18.6 billion.

Charlie Price, from Aquaponics UK has said of the system:

“This is a smallholder scale version of our commercial aquaponics solar greenhouse, it is designed to be low-tech and low-cost in order to be accessible not just to farmers wishing to diversify but to communities, schools, families and more. By combining such an energy efficient building with a space, nutrient, and water efficient growing system we can grow all year round, even in colder climes, and produce a wide variety of healthy outputs with minimal inputs. By working with two such fantastic organisations, Humble by Nature and FCFCG, we hope to bring aquaponics and sustainable integrated farming to the masses and improve our food security from grassroots up.”

The great beauty of aquaponics is the way it doesn’t use a lot of the energy, water and oil requirements that plague conventional agriculture (and even aquaculture and hydroponics when they stand alone).

Humble has stated (and we fervently agree!) that aquaponics is the answer to the worlds growing food crisis.

Read the full story from The Guardian UK here.

Aquaponics in India will soon be offering consultancy services. Please get in touch for more information.

Written by Pippa Woodhead
Being a health-nut, London born Pippa has struggled to adjust to the lack of availability of lettuce and kale since re-locating to India. Previously naive to the extent of the worlds food struggles, she has now become obsessed with sustainability in food production and especially in India where it needs it the most (plus she’s also hoping to get her hands on some kale any day now). When she’s not writing for Aquaponics in India, she is usually found with her head in a book or in the kitchen experimenting with new vegetarian recipes.